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Dear Arcee- Advice for Autobots
You receive a radio message from Arcee: Hey Reeewind!! You there?? *sounds a tad bit overenergized* You send a radio message to Arcee: Uh...Arcee? Yes, I'm here. ...Or there. Heh, well, somewhere... Anyway, what's up? You receive a radio message from Arcee: Heyyyy! *chuckles* Lissen. I'm trying to locate an article. An' I'm having some problems finding it, it's kind of important to me. An' it would help me out ever-so-much right now if you knew a way to get ahold of i You receive a radio message from Arcee: It. Sorry about that. YEah. You receive a radio message from Arcee: Well. No, not really. You see, Feb...ru...Febrary is coming up. That's the human's month for love, and I can't ever deal with that too good. You'd think I COULD but I, indeed, have some problems. In that area. Ssooo. I went out for a little while...today...to get my mind off of Feberry. And I met someone at the bar who...knew about this article I'm talking about, because he too does...human research...so he found this article and he said...he said to me, 'You need to find this and read it.' <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "Nice date, Blades." <'Autobot'> Blades says, "I told you I was trouble." <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "Nah, y' just know how t' show a femme a good time..." <'Autobot'> Sanguine says, "Blades are you corrupting the younger sparks?" <'Autobot'> Spindrift says, ".. Wait, Blades and Solstice are on a date?" <'Autobot'> Blades says, "Would you prefer that I corrupted older ones?" <'Autobot'> Sanguine says, "Older sparks are known to be set in their resonance." You send a radio message to Arcee: ...I see. Yeah, February is... kinda a difficult month if you don't, y'know, have someone to really talk to. It would be nice. ...I-I mean, I guess it would, I don't know, not like I think about that much or anything, ha hah. Uh, Ok, I can look the article up for you, but.... where are you? You need a.... I dunno, a designated driver or something? I could come by if you'd like. But anyway, sure... what's the name of the article? The odds are I have this around here somewhere. <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "So we are onna dat--HNNGK..." You receive a radio message from Arcee: Oh, no, I'm fiiiine, I'm in Iacon. Just sitting and watching the traffic in the park at City Center. I would LOVE to see you. Now this article...is from April 6, 1982, Chicago Tribune, Page 6B, 'Dear Abby'. Whatever THAT is! So there you go, master archivist, the hunt is on! You send a radio message to Arcee: 'Oh, Ok, good to hear! Alright, I can head over there pretty soon. Now funny you ask what "Dear Abby" is... Did you know that that's a human advice column founded by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren", and then carried on by her daughter? It's been syndicated all over the United States, and... and... you probably aren't interested in its history are you. Hmmm. Ok, sorry, searching.... searching. Got it! Uh... you want advice on foot warts? Oh, sorry... ha ha, wrong column..... Ah! This is probably what you were looking for. I'm sending it to you now...' You receive a radio message from Arcee: The column is titled, 'Help! I think I'm falling for my supervisor!' You send a radio message to Arcee: 'Yeah, that's the one.' You send a radio message to Arcee: 'Uh.... and why is that particular one of interest to you, Arcee?' You receive a radio message from Arcee: You are a LIFESAVER. Okay. Not the candy -- see, I knew there was a candy called that!! Hahah!! You saved me. OK, this will be GREAT. Uhhh. Well, it doesn't have any particular...meaning, for me. There's NOTHING IN MY ACTUAL LIFE like this column, at all. It's a total coincidence. Okay?! ...Hang onna microsecond...I'm reading this thing...hmm...hmmmmmm! Okaaaay. Interesting. -- Hey Reeewind, where are you? I thought you were coming here?? You send a radio message to Arcee: ...Uh huh. (He doesn't sound convinced.) If you say so, Arcee. Uh, yeah.... sorry, don't have a fancy alt mode like a *race car* or a *jet* or anything.... so it's not like I can just transform and ...well, really do much of anything. Unless you want a *really cool* musical experience- now THAT I can provide! But... yeah, I need to get there first. Give me a moment! You receive a radio message from Arcee: Awww, that's right, it takes you a little while...*giggles* I need to get you Daniel's old hoverboard...you would be so cute scooting around on that... You receive a radio message from Arcee: RIGHT?? You send a radio message to Arcee: :sighs. "Yeah, I'd kinda prefer "mechly", myself.... someday, somehow, someone is going to call me that. They *are*! ....But, heh heh, I guess I can live with "cute" for now. And a hoverboard would be GREAT! Imagine all the new camera angles I could get with that...... You receive a radio message from Arcee: Hey, be proud of cute. OWNNNN cute. I used to...get flack for my color. 'Why you gotta be a PINK femme???' y'know?? That kinda drek. But you know what? I kept that damn color. As you know. When I'm in battle now, I owwwwwnnnn pink. I slash my enemies, smash them to pieces -- and the last thing they evvvveerrr see, is ME. Pink ole me. A pink princess cutting them to BITS. I OWN PINK, Reeewind. You need to own cute. Cause a...lots...a lotta femmes go in for that. I'm tellin you that right now. You send a radio message to Arcee: ....... Really? They do? .....Huh. Ok, yeah.... I..I could do cute. *OWN the CUTE*.... I'll- I'll work on that, Arcee. Thanks. City Center - Iacon Amidst the sea of dome-like buildings stands the tall spiraling Tower of Pion in the center of the Iacon city-state. The rest of the buildings in the sector seem to be built entirely around the tower itself in a well arranged circular pattern that sets the theme for the rest of the city-state's layout. This region of Iacon houses the majority of the city-state's entertainment and high classed residential districts. Thousands of multi-leveled collapsible floating highway networks extend all across the region, occupying the spaces in between the sea of domed buildings. Noteworthy areas of interest from here are the High Council Pavilions towards the north, the Autobots' stronghold of Decagon over to the west, the Central Spaceport that towers over all of Iacon to the east, and the the Forum of Enlightenment leading to the south. Contents: Arcee Sculpture Tower of Pion Arcee is not too difficult to spot out in the park. She's the one standing on one of the tables, going through sparring moves. Thankfully, law enforcement hasn't kicked her out of the park yet. Prowl has arrived. Prowl shifts forms, folding down into a black and white Nissan 350Z Police Cruiser. <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "Hey Blades?" <'Autobot'> Blades says, "Hnnng." <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "Yeah. Best Date *ever*!" Rewind hurries along the street, his short legs not getting him very far very fast. He really tries not to complain about his alt form, he *really does*... but there are ....*times*.... *sigh*. But the cassette-bot hurries along, until he finally sees a spot of... pink. "Arcee! There you there!" He waves and moves towards her. "Uh... practicing some fight moves. In the park. On a table. That's.... original." Arcee is standing on one of the tables in the City Center park. After going through the motions of her sparring routine, she pauses. "Remember, people, you need to OWN YOURSELVES," she announces to no one in particular, although she has a few mechs looking on, "Cause we're all beautiful -- on the INSIDE." She smiles as Rewind comes hurrying into the park. "Let's give a big round of applause to my friend!!! Reeewind!!" Cue awkward clapping. Very awkward clapping. <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "This 'date' better be over broken decepticon bodies Blades, or I'm gonna be very disappointed in you bro" <'Autobot'> Blades says, "Carjack and Blast Off decided to cause earthquakes in the middle of a softball game, because they are slaglords." <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "Close enough" <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "An' there's a big thing causin' th' shakes...Huh, what's this - Do not use unless emergency?" <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "Ugh, I -hate- warnings like that. It always means it's something fun that I can't use for my own amusement." <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "ell, dad had t' have a reason for puttin' that warnin' in so, movin' on." Prowl patrols the streets and expressways of Iacon, making his assigned rounds in sector 2A, near the Central Spaceport. He approaches the heart of the city-state itself, where the Tower of Pion resides. It's not long before he spots a small gathering of mechs in a recreational area not far from the Tower itself. It seems Arcee is standing on a table and making a scene. Hn. He's about to move on to something more important when a couple of Empties start complaining about the ruckus. Because they come here for peace and quiet, not to listen to some overcharged fembot disrupt the tranquility offered by the park. With a sigh, he reluctantly agrees to attempt to get her to quiet down. The strategist drives over to the table she's on top of, and transforms into a standing position. "Arcee, I'm going to have to ask you to quiet down...this recreational area is dedicated to maintenance of 'a sheltered respite from chaos in the midst of a world at war.'" he says, quoting the city-state's municipal code directly. "Your actions easily fall into the category of 'disturbing the peace'." Yeah, and he totally didn't read that off or anything, though his tone of voice kind of sounded as if he were. <'Autobot'> Blades says, "....krk." Arcee stares down at Prowl. "........" She listens, or at least makes like she's listening, very intently. "Oh...I did that?" she asks. "I was just trying to give them some...comforting words in a time of crisis," she explains as only an overenergized femme could possibly do. "These good mechs need to be...encouraged...to understand, the risks we take for them and the...the...the *things* we do, in order to...uh...to keep this city-state a bright and engaging example of the world we want, and...not just that, but NEED...require...to have returned to us." Rewind raises his hands up and tries to talk Arcee off the table. "Arcee... um, that's...really nice. It is! Thanks. But, you probably should get off the table now.... Why don't you come down here and we can talk about that article I sent you..." That's when Prowl shows up. "Oh, hi, Prowl!" He looks up at the police bot. "Arcee and I were *just leaving*.... Bceause we're conscientious citizens and all, right, Arcee?... Right?" The police cruiser rapidly unfolds, revealing Prowl's biped form. Prowl nods slowly. "Yes, you did." He says evenly. "Are you overcharged?" The police bot asks. "Because you are certainly showing all of the identifying signs of such. Please, cease and desist so that I won't have to give you a citation for code violations." Because in subsection delta, it says that a citation must be issued if there's more than one violation, and the code also says that consumption of high-grade engex is prohibited within 10 mechanometers of the park's perimeter. <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "Uh.. Blades.. was that earth-shatterin' kaboom you nerfin' th' flyboy or..." <'Autobot'> Blades says, "That was me losing 30% of my body mass the hard way." <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "Well.. that's.. not good." Arcee doesn't seem to have any open containers, so that's one thing she has going for her. But yes, she's pretty obviously inebriated. She looks around shiftily for a moment, then looks over at Rewind, as if the little tapebot could be the hero of her day and she could simply stroll off with him. "I have no...nooooooo, high-grade engex containers on me -- look. NONE. I would never...neeeeever take those into a park, I assure you," she tells Prowl. Then, she moves to step off the table. "And I'm not disturbing aaaaaanyone's peace...these fine people, they deserve all the peace in the universe!" Arcee then wobbles on the edge of the table, and falls on the ground, getting back up to try and save whatever dignity she has left. Rewind nods as Arcee speaks, then looks back at Prowl. "She's just.... y'know, having one of those days...." he pauses and looks at Prowl. "Do you ever have one of those days? I mean, we all do, ...don't we?" Of course, it's entirely possible Prowl would be the one Autobot who *doesn't*... or at least wouldn't admit to it. But it can't hurt to ask, right? "We're leaving soon. Well, I hope. Just... Prowl, keep in mind she's had some rough times lately. We all have. But she means well." "It depends," Prowl answers, still stoic. "On what exactly you mean by 'one of those days'. Your terminology there was a bit nonspecific." He watches Arcee flop onto the ground, sighing. "Thank you." he says, not bothering to argue with an overcharged fembot. "I trust this won't happen again?" Arcee tilts her head. Is Prowl letting her GO?? With a WARNING, even?? "No! Never, ever again!" she promises, going over to stand with Rewind. "I will never bother the fine mechs of Iacon ever again! We have to stand as...inspirations, to *everyone* we encounter." She nods resolutely. <'Autobot'> Arcee murmurs something that sounds an awful lot like, 'I'm not going to jail'...but it's very unclear. Not so fast, Arcee... Prowl nods. "Yes, yes of course. That being said," he takes out a datapad and keys in a few things. "A temporary block will be placed on your name--you won't be able to purchase high-grade engex capable of causing an overcharged state for five full solar cycles." Really though, in his honest opinion, the entire faction could do without it. Better, in fact. Ah, well. Arcee almost looks like she's going to cry. Of course, that's impossible, robots can't cry, but she sure has that miserable expression down to a science. "Fiiive? Are you serious." Arcee stares down at the ground. Rewind looks up at Prowl. "Ok, that's reasonable." He looks at Arcee. "Isn't it, Arcee?" The cassette-bot then tugs at the femme, trying to pull her away from the table, the park... and Prowl. "C'mon, let's go back to Iacon and look over that article! It'll be fun! Really! All these fine folks here in the park will keep up the good fight, don't worry! They're all full of love and light and all those good things. As are you! Now, let's go take that light... elsewhere." <'Autobot'> Getaway says, "Jails aren't so bad, Arcee. At least, not as soon as you break out." <'Autobot'> Sandstorm mock sagely, as he's likely speaking from experience, "Drunk tanks are worse." <'Autobot'> Getaway says, "Easier to get out of, though." <'Autobot'> Rewind says, "Please don't give her any ideas, Getaway." <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "Not when you're still plastered they're not" <'Autobot'> Getaway says, "Hm. Point." <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "I'm not *plastered*. No wwwaay. This is a bad misunderstanding. Tell them, Rewind." Prowl just gvies Arcee an exasperated look. Did she really just ask him if he were serious? Who asks Prowl if he's serious? "Am I ever not?" He then turns away, transforming to get back to his patrol routes. "Keep an optic on her, Rewind. Make sure she doesn't get into too much more trouble. That is, until she gets back to herself." <'Autobot'> Wraith says, "Arcee is plastered?" <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "Nuh uh." <'Autobot'> Rewind says, "Weeellll.... I'll put it this way. You're, uh, having a bad day. Which is understandable, we all have them. Let's say we go to Iacon.... like, right now. I could show you some of my newest historical videos!" <'Autobot'> Prowl says, "You are in an overcharged state. When such a state is achieved, those subject to it often have difficulty comprehending the true nature of any situation they may come upon." <'Autobot'> Wraith says, "You can be overcharged?" <'Autobot'> Wraith says, "Huh..." <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "... That is no way to ask a femme out on a date Rewind. That sounds like a nerd." <'Autobot'> Rewind says, "What? No, no, no.... I'm just trying to convince her to come back to the base before she gets herself arrested for disorderly conduct." <'Autobot'> Getaway says, "Convince her with a date. Best solution." <'Autobot'> Getaway says, "You can do it, Rewind!" "Thank you!" Arcee says, still trying to figure out why her balancing mechanisms seem a bit off tonight. She'll have to have that checked out. "I *never* want to break another marsupial law, Rewind! If you see me breaking a rule, you gotta let me know right away! I'm a law abiding citizen," she exclaims. <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "Disorderly conduct? What, is she stripping her armor off in public?" <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "No!! Just shut up." <'Autobot'> Rewind says, "NO." <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "I AM NOT disorderly!!! I NEVER HAVE BEEN." <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "Too bad. I heard Springer likes bad femmes." <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "Don't you eeeeven bring him into this...you." <'Autobot'> Rewind says, "If you must know, she's saying very admirable things... just... in a way that has Prowl over here looking at us with that disapproving stare of his. But he's agreed to let her go... so, I think that's what we should do, Arcee." <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "Oh" <'Autobot'> Arcee says, "Yeah." <'Autobot'> Sandstorm says, "Well that's just Prowl. He looks at everyone like that." <'Autobot'> Rewind says, "...True." Rewind nods to Prowl. "Can do! I'll make sure she gets home safely." He tugs at Arcee. "No problem! I may not have all the laws memorized the way Prowl does, but I know enough to keep us out of trouble." Then he looks at the femme. "Hey, did you know there's a place where it's against the law to walk your pet alligator-but only at noon- on city streets?" "Really??" Arcee grins at Rewind like he was terribly clever for knowing that. "Wow, what a crazy law! Some laws are just crazy," she exclaims -- then covers her mouth. Maybe saying that is a marsupial offense! Whoops...well good thing it appears Prowl is already out of audio receptor range... "Thanks for saving me a night in the drunk tank, Rewind. I owe you," Arcee says gratefully. She's overenergized, sure, but she's also grateful not to be sitting in a cell. You say, "Heh, my pleasure. It's what friends do, right?" The cassette-bot grins under his faceplate. "Nah, you don't owe me- just follow me back safely to base and we'll call it even, OK?" He then guides Arcee away and down the city street (or tries to). "I know! There are all kinds of crazy laws out there! Did you know that in In Sterling, Colorado, it is unlawful to allow a pet cat to run loose without a taillight?" He proceeds to tell Arcee all kinds of useless pet laws. "And in Hartford, Connecticut, it is illegal to educate a dog! And in..."" Arcee thinks these laws are AMAZING. In the morning, probably, not so much. But for the evening, Rewind has Arcee's undivided attention. "HA!! Laws are dumb," she laughs merrily. Rewind chuckles and leads ARcee back towards home. "Heh, well.... they certainly can be convoluted sometimes!" <'Autobot'> Solstice says, "Sooo, are all your dates this fun?" "Thanks for finding that article for me. That wasn't something I was joking about by the way. I really needed to find that, and I appreciate the help." Arcee's still pretty unsteady, but thankfully, she had enough sense to stop drinking before she passed out. Unlike some mechs she knows. "That's going to help me out." Rewind nods. "Good, I'm glad. I know you said it... doesn't relate to you, but.... Let me guess, it's for a friend, right?" "Yup. It's...it's for someone who needs to see it right now." Arcee's cheerful mood fades slightly. "Feelings get really complicated sometimes." Rewind nods...knowingly. "Yeah. Well, just tell that... friend there's no rush. She can go slowly. take her time, figure things out first, Ok?" Arcee looks really uncertainly at Rewind. "Yeah. It's easier said than done, let me tell you. It just got to the point where I -- er, I mean my friend, said: 'This *seems* like it's going somewhere -- but what if it's just my imagination, and it's not really going anywhere at all? Because that might be true, too.' Eventually, I decided to go have a drink...in her *honor*, of course." She winks. Rewind manages not to look too skeptical or anything as he replies, "Right, of course." He keeps gently guiding the femme back to base. "Well, that's... uh, nice of you. But the best thing yo-she can do right now is just give things a bit more time." He shrugs. "It's hard to know, sometimes. I wish I knew these things... better myself. Anyway. That's why giving things time can help. Or... she could always just stop beating around the bush and ask the person directly." "She did, and she got a crappy non-answer," Arcee says with frustration. "He thought she was trying to join his freaking fan club, how messed up is that??" That last bit comes with a chuckle. "It kind of stands to reason that if you ask a question, you're going to get a straightforward answer. Right? At least, that's what you go in hoping to accomplish. Ask THIS, receive THAT. Looks good on paper and in theory!" Rewind ahs, and that answer confirms in his mind just who Arcee is indeed speaking of. He already had a pretty good idea, but... "I see. Yes. Sometimes people don't quite understand, even when it seems they should. Or... sometimes they DO, and they're just afraid to admit they understand. But if that's the case, then.... just make sure they know you like them and that you'll let them proceed at the pace they are comfortable with... if they want to proceed at all." If Arcee had any idea that Rewind just figured her out, she would be completely mortified. But as it is, being overenergized makes her chatty, and at the moment, pouring her heart out to Rewind makes more sense than anything else going on in her life right now. "Yup. That's where it is right now. Right *there*." "You make a lot of sense, have you read all of those Dear Abby things?" she asks suddenly. Rewind laughs. "Hehehehe..." He stops and looks around a bit sheepishly. "Keep a secret?" He leans in to whisper, "Yes." He then straightens out and says, "Well... then I think you might want to consider following my- or Abby's- advice. Give him time. Give *yourself* time. Just... be there." Arcee laughs at Rewind's revelation. "Hey, she had plenty of good advice! Not all of it pertains to humans, either, which makes me wonder if she ever studied us in her lifetime." She nods. "I suppose I'm just used to 'Yes, that sounds like a good idea', or 'No, that doesn't sound like it appeals very much to me.' Not some weird thing that's in-between the two! But I'll see what happens. It's about all I can do at this point." Rewind chuckles. "I just think that sometimes the right way to approach some of life's problems isn't starkly one way or another.... but more a shade of gray. An in-between approach. Not *always*, but... sometimes. And yeah, I think you're right. See what happens." The smaller bot points towards the building where the Autobot's quarters are. "Look, we're almost there! C'mon, I'll race ya!" (Like he'd win *that* bet...) "Oh, you would pick the evening my gyro-stabilizers are completely glitched!" Arcee laughs. "No WAY am I going to transform, I'd end up imbedded in the side of the building for sure." She makes a valiant effort, but it's kind of a strange dance for her -- a dozen steps, a sudden pivot, and then she falls; gets back up and repeats, laughing the whole way. "Not fair!" she insists, still giggling. Rewind tries to help her up. "Heh heh, well.... I think in this state you probably could still beat me. But Ok, we can do that some other time. I guarantee you'll win that time, though, heh." Arcee chuckles, giving Rewind a little hug. "Thanks for 'babysitting' me to make sure I didn't get brigged, I did, in fact, have one of those days, like you were telling Prowl. Probably acted up a bit much today. But you know what??" She looks around for a moment to make sure Prowl isn't around waiting for her to break more laws, and then she leans in and whispers to Rewind, "I regret *nothing*!" Rewind grins under the faceplate and pats Arcee with a hand. He would pat her back, but he can't quite reach it, so... since her arm is in reach he pats that. "Heh heh. We all have days like those. I'm glad I could be here for you when you needed it!" With a big grin in place, Arcee waves good night and heads into the hallway toward her Decagon quarters. Rewind was able to use his archival powers for good tonight. And in the end, that's all that truly matters. Some days, even the most trivial things can become monumentally important.